Originally published: September 25, 2013

When it’s a luxury sport utility that has shed some 340 kilos (749 lbs.).

The Range Rover Sport has long been a top-flight contender in the battle for Canadian über-utility supremacy, and the all-new 2014 version enters the ring in its best fighting shape ever.

In addition to trimming up — thanks to Jaguar-Land Rover’s industry-leading development of aluminum architecture — the Sport is the fastest, most agile and responsive model to emerge from the Land Rover stable.

After a long morning spent navigating tight forest roads and the coastal highway in and around Silicon Valley, and an afternoon thrashing and slashing through Redwood forest’s off-road trails in the supercharged V6 and V8 models, it’s clear that the betting money is on the 2014 Sport landing some ferocious blows on the competition, most notably the Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5, before the dust settles.

Despite being a close cousin to the 2013 Range Rover, the new Sport shares just 25 per cent in common with its stablemate, and even less in a tale of the tape comparison with the outgoing Sport model. Most notably, an all-new aluminum unibody architecture replacing a steel unibody mounted on a full-frame chassis, providing much of the weight-savings noted above and making the new Sport what Land Rover press notes call "the most capable Land Rover ever."

That’s quite a statement considering the legendary capabilities of Land Rover vehicles, but the new Sport has already achieved an impressive benchmark. It recently set the record for production vehicles on the famed Pikes Peak climb, the only modification being a roll cage to protect Pikes Peak legend Paul Dallenbach. Note that’s a record not just for sport utilities, but for all production vehicles, including sports cars.

Canadian models, which are in dealerships now, come with two supercharged engine choices — a 340-horsepower 3.0-litre V6 and a 510-hp 5.0-litre V8. When outfitted with the former, there is a 340 kg weight-saving over the previous model, while the V8 is some 290 kg lighter.

Thanks to the weight reduction, fuel economy is improved over the previous models, and furthering that is a new standard stop/start system that also cuts emissions. I’m not a big fan of this technology, which shuts off the engine when you come to a full stop at a red light, but what I do like about the Range Rover design is that the engine re-fires on a number of driver inputs, such as turning the steering wheel or taking your foot off the brake.

Many other brands that offer start/stop only re-fire when you press the gas pedal, meaning often jerking starts off the line.

In addition to fuel savings, the lighter bodies mean quicker acceleration, and the new V8 Sport shaves nearly one full second over the dash from zero to 100 km/h, posting a respectable 5.3 seconds. The 2014 V6’s time of 7.2 seconds is a 0.3 second improvement over the outgoing model.

And in keeping with the emergent trend of tuning exhaust notes, both engines employ sound symposers on the intake systems, and the V8 gets growlier still with a specially tuned exhaust system.

Throw in the sixth-generation, twin vortex system supercharger on both engines, and you have powerplants more than capable of running with both Porsche and Bimmer models.

An eight-speed automatic gearbox corrals all that power with shifts advertised to be completed in 200 milliseconds, though the optional steering wheel-mounted paddle-shifters still give drivers some control to time the shift patterns.

All this was very well and good — actually really good — on the paved roads that we spent the morning romping over, with the handling and performance of the Sport just that much better than the Range Rover.

But how would it stack up against its stablemate in the sand, gravel and mud? After all, this was the Sport version, designed, one would assume, to perform on paved surfaces rather than off the beaten track.

At the North American launch of the Range Rover earlier this year, which featured a gnarly off-road track through Hog Canyon, Utah, I was blown away by the climbing and four-wheeling capabilities of that all-new 2013 model. It reinforced the legendary heritage that goes with having that green "Land Rover" badge on the fender and rear tailgate.

For pure comparison’s sake, I’d love to take the 2014 Sport up and over the same obstacles we tackled that day, but from what I experienced through the sandy and rutted ranch land in the Sport, I’d say it would be up to the challenge.

Utilizing the exact same, next-generation Terrain Response System that debuted in the 2013 Range Rover, the Sport easily, most often effortlessly, navigated the ascents, descents and articulation-inducing whoop de doos without breaking a wheel-spin.

Most impressive is the "auto" mode, which takes all of the guess work out of which precise computer-controlled traction mode is required given the respective terrain (those being general, grass/gravel/snow, mud/ruts, sand and rock crawl). Four-wheeling purists may scoff at such nanny controls, but for a neophyte off-roader, the auto mode opens up a bumpy and rock strewn world of opportunity. And let’s face it, the majority of people who plunk down $100,000+ for an all-wheel drive vehicle aren’t well-versed in the nuances of camber rolls, planetary gears and tail gunning.

Instead, it’s often the seamless melding of toughness and luxury that appeals to Land Rover customers. And the 2014 Range Rover Sport has both in spades.

On that latter point, the Sport maintains the high cabin standards set by the 2013 Range Rover, offering an interior that rivals many luxury sedans in terms of refinement, comfort and ergonomics.

And it does those five-seaters one better by offering a first-ever 5+2 optional seating arrangement. True, you wouldn’t want to put your granny in those back seats, but for kids or adults on a short city jaunt, they work just fine and further increase the utility of the Sport. When not in use they fold flat in the cargo area.

Also new to the Sport are park assist, blind spot monitoring, a remote operated tailgate (about time!) and an added inch of legroom.

The 2014 Sport marks the third all-new Range Rover in the past two years — joining the aforementioned 2013 Range Rover and the wildly successful Evoque. It’s also the best-selling Range Rover model in Canada — at least until the all-new LR4 arrives in the next year or so.

Until that time, and while it may not be a unanimous decision, the 2014 luxury sport utility championship belt belongs around the svelte waist of the 2014 Range Rover Sport.